Yesterday was my first day back to work after the 2 month IAT hike.  It was a good day and I am grateful to have such an amazing team to come back to.  Walking away from a job I’ve held for almost 10 years feels like it should have been difficult, but it wasn’t.  I am a manager of what I’d call a team of friends and I did not worry for their well-being at all.  Am I cold hearted or did I know they don’t need me to succeed?  I have come to accept that I have never been a pivotal cog in any work machine; whether you work for a large organization, like I do, or a smaller one, the world will keep spinning with or without you.  

I wish we had more time to chat with Chicka & Sunsets when they met us on the trail that day.  Leaving work for 2 months is one thing, leaving the corporate world forever like they did is quite a different thing.  Chicka & Sunset’s lives have some stories that I want to hear.  If I ever do get the chance to hike the AT and they are still running a hostel in Franklin, I’ll be dropping in to say hello.

My work life and my hiker life could not be more different, Cubicle IT Manager vs Outdoors Adventurer.  Strands of commonality do intertwine underneath it all.  Whether at work or on the trail, I’ve always been able to grit my teeth and push through the tough times without much complaining.  I have never been the smartest person in the room nor the expert of anything.  I am just a person with enough mental toughness to try extremely hard however arduous the situation.  Good grades and high praises at work had me believing myself to be something I never was for a long time.  The reality of my situation is that I am just a normal person of average intelligence with a lot of grit.